Artist Residency

The Artist Residency at the Earl Center hosts visiting artists who work to realize a radically hopeful future where art is conceived as an inextricable part of living, learning, and thriving. The artist residency supports the interdisciplinary, multimodal, and creatively transformative work of Earl Center events and initiatives. Visiting artists have the opportunity to develop their own work and engage the local community, within BU Wheelock and beyond, through interactive programming.

The Continuum Dance Project joins the Earl Center to explore the role of interdisciplinary arts in educational design and research. In  collaboration with Fernandina Chan and Adrianne Brayton, the Earl Center will host community engagement events including workshops, demonstrations, and co-design conversations to support community-building and change-making. The residency will culminate in a collectively conceived dance exhibition open to the BU community and beyond.

Continuum Dance Project

Continuum Dance Project (CDP) is a Boston based dance company focused on creating site-specific work, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and reflecting the backgrounds of our collaborating artists. Founded in 2013 by Fernadina Chan, CDP choreographers/co-directors Adriane Brayton and Fernadina Chan work collaboratively with their dancers. In 2023 Continuum Dance Project debuted ‘Becoming Water’ as part of the  Momentum Greenway Dance Program, presented by Amazon. This new, site-responsive dance series featured new works by Continuum Dance Project, Jean Appolon Expressions, Public Displays of Motion, and Vimoksha Dance Company. CDP is the recipient of a 2020 Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation, a 2022 Boston Dancemakers Residency, made possible with support from the Aliad Fund at The Boston Foundation, and is a 2021 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Finalist in Choreography. In 2023 Continuum Dance Project continues to push the boundaries of audience interaction and traditional vantage points, by presenting work in unconventional spaces. 

Fernandina Chan

Fernadina Chan 陳孝晶 (Co-Director/Founder) was the Founding Artistic Dean and Chair of the Dance Department of Boston Arts Academy (BAA). After retirement, Chan founded Continuum Dance Project (CDP) as a choreography laboratory with BAA alumni in 2013. With CDP, she was awarded the 2017 Boston Center for the Arts Choreographer Residency, and received two LLC Grants from The Brookline Commission for the Arts. CDP under the Co-Directorship of Fernadina Chan and Adriane Brayton was the recipient of a 2020 LAB grant from The Boston Foundation. Brayton and Chan are 2022 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Finalists, and recipients of the 2022 AiR residency at the Somerville Arts Council’s ArtAssembled. Most recently, Chan received the 2022-2023 Dancemakers Residency from Boston Center for the Arts and Boston Dance Alliance. In 2023 Chan and Brayton were commissioned to create a site-responsive work for the Momentum Greenway Dance Program, presented by Amazon.

Ms. Chan has received numerous awards: most notably Surdna Arts Teacher Fellowship in 2001; Teacher of the Year from the International Network of Schools for the Advancement of Arts Education in 2005; Boston Educator of the Year in 2011 and 2013 Dance Champion from Boston Dance Alliance. Chan’s work has been presented at High School Dance Festivals in Miami, Philadelphia, and Baltimore; South Vermont Dance Festival, Rebound Festival and numerous festivals in the Greater Boston area. She collaborated with Soyoung L Kim on Kim’s performance art project “Ghost Roots” funded by a 2021 LAB grant from The Boston Foundation. 

She is also a Certified GYROKINESIS ®  and GYROTONIC® Instructor.

Adrianne Brayton

Adriane Brayton, (Co-Director/Performer) is the Co-Artistic Director of Continuum Dance Project. Born in Boston, Adriane’s choreography has been performed at The Eustice Estate (Milton, MA), Pao Arts Center (Chinatown, MA), Emerson College (Boston, MA), Bates Dance Festival (Lewiston, ME), Tufts University (Medford, MA), The Museum of Science (Boston, MA), The Dance Complex (Cambridge, MA), Boston Center for The Arts (Boston, MA), and Boston University (Boston, MA). She attended the Boston Arts Academy and Connecticut College, where she received BAs in Biological Sciences and Dance.  In 2017 she completed a 3 year guest artist residency for the Expansive Meanings and Makings in Art Science Project in partnership with the The National Science Foundation. Adriane’s professional credits include Beheard.world, Weberdance, and Continuum Dance Project. She is a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), a United States Pilates Association Certified Instructor, and a GYROKINESIS® Method Certified Instructor. Brayton and her Co-Director Fernadina Chan are 2022 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Finalists, recipients of the 2022 AiR residency at the Somerville Arts Council’s ArtAssembled, and most recently received the 2022-2023 Dancemakers Residency from Boston Center for the Arts and Boston Dance Alliance. In 2023 Continuum Dance Project were commissioned to create its newest site-responsive work ‘Becoming Water’ for the Momentum Greenway Dance Program, presented by Amazon.

Learn More about Continuum Dance Project

For more information on Continuum Dance Project’s mission, history, and exhibitions, visit their website and follow them on social media.

Earl Center

For Learning and Innovation